MACHINE Damascus Review (I know I am way behind)

I have been waiting for the weather in Southern Maryland to get to the point where I could actually review the putter based on some on course (or at least “on grass”) feedback. I have finally gotten a few rounds in and some time on the practice green, so here we go. I know the tendency when writing a review of something you won is to be overly positive, so I wanted to make sure I gave a totally honest review of the putter.

Here was the contest: http://www.golfwrx.com/forums/topic/918119-and-the-winner-of-a-custom-damascus-machine-putter-is/page__hl__%20machine%20%20damascus

Brief history of my game: My putting has always been okay, not great, but I wasn’t losing a large amount of strokes because of it. Of course I wasn’t gaining a lot of strokes because of it either. Biggest thing was I had almost no confidence on putts shorter than 5-6’ because I was always focusing on the putter face being square at impact and was making a lot of ugly strokes. I loved Face-Balanced blades and mallets and would often switch after a bad round or two thinking it was the putter. I found a little bit of success at the end of last season when I switched to a Newport Button Back, which made no sense to me because I thought I had a SBST stroke, but it was kind of working so I decided to go with it.

When I found out I had won the MACHINE Damascus giveaway I was overwhelmed to say the least. I could have anything I wanted on a putter but I had no idea where to start. I knew I wanted it to be face balanced. I liked the head shape of my Scotty Del Mar Long Slant, so something in a mid-mallet head shape would work. I kind of liked the whole Versa idea and the color blue so it would need a spacer to achieve this look as well. I had never tried a center shafted putter so I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to do so. I also liked the concept of an aluminum grip and decided I wanted to try one of those as well.

Chris and Dave were excellent to work with during the ordering process. I ended up deciding on:

Damascus M4 Meritage Head, Aggressive Milling on the face, Center Shaft-Over Hosel, Deep Bite Bongo back, Blue Aluminum Spacer, Blue Aluminum Grip, Head and Hosel in Hot Salts Gun Blue finish

I wanted the headweight to be around 350g but also adjustable between 340-360.

Chris provided pictures during the build and when it showed up in February I couldn’t wait to start rolling putts. Of course it was freezing cold outside so the only putting I was doing was on a BirdieBall green in the basement. The night it arrived I must have hit hundreds of putts. The head felt a little light but the putter still felt pretty solid through the stroke. To me though the contact felt “clicky” but I wrote this off as going from the insert-faced Button Back to a milled faced putter.

Within a day or two of getting the putter I met up with some other GolfWRX guys at a new Club Champion that opened up in the area. I brought the MACHINE to show off and also was hoping to get on the SAM with it. The short time on the SAM changed everything. It showed that the best fitting putter for me would be something with 30* Toe Hang (not FB as the MACHINE was) and also I needed a full shaft of offset (the MACHINE had zero offset). The SAM showed that even though I thought I was going SBST I was actually trying to force that stroke resulting in a weird inside to out push. I tried a Scotty California Fastback and saw immediate improvement. I thought “This Sucks” I have this beautiful putter that I had told Chris I was going to “game the finish off” of, and now I knew it wasn’t right for me. Cue one of the biggest reasons I am now a MACHINE fan for life…

I contacted Chris and explained what the SAM had said and asked what it would cost to buy a hosel that would achieve the toe hang and offset recommended by the SAM. He spoke to Dave and they said to send the putter back to them and they would get it set up the way I needed it at no charge. This included making a carbon steel Hand Bent Hosel and giving it a finish to match the putter head. Exceptional customer service and they went above and beyond when they didn’t have to. They had already built me a free putter and could have said tough break the new hosel will be $$. Turnaround time was quick and I had it just in time to start putting on grass. I did swap the shaft/grip out for a SuperStroke 1.0 once I got it back. The Aluminum grip with UST shaft was a little heavy which was making the head feel lighter than I wanted. I may eventually buy some heavier weights for the head and put that grip back on because I did like the way it felt in my hands.

And Now For the Review:

LOOKS: Up close the lines of the Damascus steel are incredible. The rainbow hues are a thing of beauty and the blue spacer pops nicely. At address, none of this is distracting and the putter head looks clean with nice lines. It sets up behind the ball pretty square also.

FEEL: Of course this is subjective, but to me the putter just feels solid. I play the PROV1x and a well struck putt gives a firm click. Not a muted sound like the Button Back, and not a “tink” as with a Circa 62 carbon steel putter. I would say it is closest to a Scotty Select, but the strike feels more solid. The VMG give much better feedback than any Scotty milling I have tried and is the perfect blend of firm/soft if that makes any sense. I can tell if I miss the center of the putter, but it is not a harsh or dead feel when I do so.

PERFORMANCE: When I miss the center of the face I can feel it, but I don’t get punished that bad for it. Putts that miss the sweet spot still travel a good distance and the putter head is stable enough to not twist even on putts towards the extreme toe. The combination of having the correct specs and the stability of the putter head has given me huge gains in confidence for putts inside of 6’. I don’t fear the downhill/sidehill slippery touch putts anymore because the MACHINE has predictable performance time after time. Distance control is very good due to the consistent performance across the face (no "dead" spots like I experienced with the early Scotty selects).

OVERALL: I’d recommend the company to anyone over and over. Craftsmanship is excellent, Customer Service is beyond great and the end result is a putter that earns its place in the bag and holds onto it. If you are in the market for a new putter you’d be selling yourself short if you didn’t at least contact Chris and see what options are available. I would say I would definitely get my next putter from them, but at this point I don’t think I am going to need another putter. I am finally confident in my putting from any distance and scores are starting to show it. The only thing I might change is picking up a blue or white MACHINE cover that will fit the head haha. Black is nice but being on WRX, I need to keep a consistent color scheme through the bag!

Sorry for the long write-up! Thanks again to Chris, Dave and GolfWRX for the great contest and the awesome putter!

I am more than willing to answer any questions if there is something I forgot!

Pics with the Center shaft hosel (Post #5209): http://www.golfwrx.com/forums/topic/171701-machine-putters-picture-thread/page__st__5190__p__8744936?do=findComment&comment=8744936

Hi Goose!

Thanks so much for the great review! We had a blast with the contest, and really enjoyed working with you on this "Ultimate Custom Build". I'm so happy to hear the new setup is working so well for you, and it's showing up in your confidence, enjoyment and lower scores. Thanks so much or all the kind words for Chris and the team and our product. If you ever need anything at all, don't hesitate to call or write.

All the best,

-Dave